Scorpion (episode)
Upon entering Borg space, Voyager encounters an alien race even more powerful than the Borg and bent on destroying all life in the galaxy, thus forcing Captain Janeway to enter into an alliance with the Borg in order to defeat them. (Season Finale) Summary Teaser In a region of space, two Borg cubes are seen. They are advancing on their next intended targets for assimilation. Their hail is cut off abruptly as energy beams lash out at the cubes which are instantly destroyed. Act One On one of 's holodecks, Captain Kathryn Janeway is running her Leonardo Da Vinci simulation. As she begins the simulation, she receives an urgent hail from Commander Chakotay who urges her to go to engineering to take a look at something. In engineering, Chakotay and Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres explain that the long-range probe they sent out months ago has stopped transmitting. B'Elanna, however, was able to catch the last few seconds of telemetry, which shows a Borg drone's face staring into the viewscreen. Chakotay remarks that they have reached Borg space. Janeway immediately calls a meeting of the senior staff and explains that it is unknown how many Borg vessels are out there but that their space appears to be vast, including thousands of solar systems - all Borg. They are no doubt entering the heart of their territory and, unfortunately, there seems to be no way around it, even though she believes that there may be a way through it. Chakotay explains that before the probe was disabled, it picked up a narrow corridor of space devoid of Borg activity - which they nicknamed the Northwest Passage. Navigating through it, however, may prove complicated as the passage is filled with intense gravimetric distortions probably caused by a string of quantum singularities. But, they have no choice but to go through it. Janeway asks them about readiness. Ensign Kim reports that sensors have been remodulated to check round the clock for Borg transwarp activity. The Doctor reports that he extensively scanned the Borg drone corpse they had found three months earlier and that he is close to successfully producing a medical defense. Neelix has been working on ways to extend their supplies and replicator rations as they will certainly not be able to replenish supplies in Borg space. Torres reports that warp propulsion is operating at optimum. Janeway voices her faith in all of them. All over the ship, preparations are finalized. In engineering, the warp drive is checked yet again. Tuvok goes through weapons checks with his security officers. Chakotay and Kim review planned tactical options in case the Borg invade the ship. While The Doctor and Kes examine the Borg drone corpse, Kes suddenly experiences a vivid vision of dismembered Borg drone corpses, piled up on one another. She has no idea what this means but it disturbs her greatly and she tells The Doctor about it. She experiences these and other frightening visions for the next two hours; visions of dead drones and Voyager s destruction. Tuvok, who is Kes' mentor in honing her telepathic abilities, is informed. While he discusses Kes' predicament with Janeway and Chakotay on the bridge, the ship begins to tremble. Kim reports that long-range sensors report transwarp signatures closing from behind. However subspace turbulence prevents them from creating a stable warp field and before they know it, they are surrounded by 15 Borg vessels with 2.5 light years and closing. In visual range, the enormous vessels are seen rapidly approaching. But much to everyone's surprise, they do not attack but merely race past Voyager. One cube slows and scans them, then speeds up to rejoin the others. They soon pass beyond the sensors' visual range, though Kim still has them on the long range sensors. Subspace turbulence dies down. At a complete loss but extremely thankful, Janeway orders resumption of warp. Later, Janeway reviews data of all Federation vessel-encounters with the Borg in her ready room. She explains to Chakotay that she has been seeking useful information on the Borg from the logs of other Starfleet commanders but has gotten none. She is clueless as what to do and feels rather alone as the commander of a ship trapped in the Delta Quadrant and at the mercy of such a hostile species. Chatokay gently assures her that he and everyone else will support her and that she is not alone. Janeway says that she cannot imagine a day without him - which is ironic because just a few years ago, she didn't even know his name. While they are talking, Tuvok hails her to the bridge. There, he and Kim report that the Borg cubes have suddenly stopped. The reason cannot be detected. Janeway orders Paris to take them to the coordinates. There they find that every one of the fifteen cubes has been destroyed - with only a few life signs. Tuvok detects two residual weapon's signatures in the debris: one Borg and the other of unknown origin. They wonder in astonishment who could bring such devastation to the Borg. Act Two Janeway, Chakotay and the officers on the bridge simply cannot believe what they are seeing. The idea of someone more powerful than the Borg seems rather unbelievable. Kim thinks they might have found an ally but Chakotay warns to not jump to conclusions. While scanning the vicinity for other vessels they detect certain bio readings on one of the Borg ships. They confirm that it is organic but do not receive a response when they send out a standard greeting. They try to beam it away from the ship, but cannot get a lock on it and a tractor beam also doesn't seem to have an effect. They realize that whatever that thing is attached to the Borg cube, it is impervious to their technology. Janeway order Chakotay to lead an away team to the cube to take a short-range scan of this biomass. Tuvok and Harry join Chakotay on the away team and beam aboard the cube. As they look around, they find nothing but dead drones scattered amidst a wreck. The officers pick their way through the damage. They follow the readings on their tricorders, moving steadily toward the object attached to the cube's hull. As they move on, they find a pile of dismembered Borg corpses reminiscent of the visions Kes had earlier on. They continue forward to the object and find that it has created a gaping hole in the cube's hull and fused onto it. Scans reveal it to be a ship - or more precisely, an organic based vessel. In Voyager s sickbay, Kes is carrying a tray when she is suddenly overwhelmed by visions of Kim screaming in abject agony. She drops the tray and collapses - frantically warning that the away team is in grave danger and that they need to leave the cube immediately. The Doctor hails Janeway and tells her about Kes' warning. On the cube, Kim calls the other two officers to his position as he has detected something biological in the vicinity and which does not appear to be Borg. Just then Janeway hails and tells them to prepare for immediate return to Voyager. However Torres has a hard time getting a lock on them because of bioelectric interference from the lifeform. She attempts to get a lock on the minerals in their bone tissue to get them back. On the cube, the unknown life form suddenly tears through a wall and enters the corridor. Immediately it attacks nearby drones, swiping them before turning to Kim and attacking him. Harry collapses, screaming in excruciating pain. The creature moves to finish him but just then Voyager beams the away team back onboard. On the bridge, Paris reports that the alien ship is detaching and powering up, seeming to be readying to fire a weapon. Kes, who is also there on the bridge, experiences another vision of the pilot on that bio-ship communicating with her. Janeway orders Paris to take them out of the area at maximum warp. Kes, full of alarm, tells Janeway that it is not the Borg that they should be worried about but this new species. She tells Janeway that the creature told her that "The weak will perish." Act Three :"Captain's log, stardate 50984.3. It's been twelve hours since our confrontation with the alien life-form. There is no sign that we're being pursued, and we've had no further encounters with the Borg. I've decided to hold our course. The Northwest Passage is only one day away and I won't allow fear to undermine this crew's sense of purpose. Even if that fear is justified." As Janeway enters sickbay, she is horrified to see the state Harry Kim is in. The Doctor tells her that the alien cells are consuming his body from the inside out while he is conscious. He says that he tried to give him a sedative but that it was rejected immediately - just as every treatment he's tried has been neutralized within seconds. He shows her the scan of the alien cells which contain more than a hundred times the DNA of a Human cell. It would take him years to decipher it. Anything that penetrates this species' cell-membrane, biological, chemicals and technological, is instantly destroyed. Janeway realizes that this is probably why the Borg cannot assimilate them. The Doctor, however, believes that Borg technology holds the key to saving Harry as he hopes to unleash an army of modified Borg nanoprobes into Harry's bloodstream designed to target and eradicate the infection. He has successfully managed to dissect a nanoprobe and access its recoding mechanism and reprogram the probe to emit the same electrochemical signature as the alien cells. That way the probe can do its work without being detected. Unfortunately, it will take several days before he has enough nanoprobes to cure Harry. On the bridge, Tuvok and Torres show Chakotay a part of the tactical data Kim had retrieved from the cube. According to it, the aliens, designated by the Borg as Species 8472, have engaged the Borg twelve times in the last five months and each time the Borg have been defeated swiftly. They also finally find out that Species 8472 comes from the Northwest Passage - which would explain why it is a region devoid of Borg activity. While discussing this, Tuvok detects 133 bioships coming from a quantum singularity. A grim-faced Janeway is seen watching the visual as it shows hundreds of the aliens' ships streaming forth from the quantum singularities in the Northwest Passage. Kes tells her that they have been communicating with her further. Their new messages are even more frightening than the first. She feels malevolence and cold hatred. She says that what they are doing is an invasion and that they intend to destroy everything. Janeway immediately orders Paris to come about and return to a position five light years away from the Passage, then come to an all stop. She and Chakotay go to her ready room. There, they discuss their next move. The Northwest Passage is no longer an option as a route for passage through Borg space. Now the choice is between facing the Borg in their space or finding a nice planet here in the Delta Quadrant and giving up on ever getting home. Chakotay says that turning around wouldn't necessarily mean giving up as they could find another way home still. But Janeway believes there to be another alternative, as she is not willing to just give up and stay here. Chakotay tells her to take a step back for a moment, relax, get some sleep and face whatever she needs to face tomorrow. Janeway spends the rest of the day in her beloved Da Vinci holodeck simulation even though the decision she must make weighs too heavily on her mind. But then, in a flash of inspiration by the Maestro himself, a possible solution presents itself. She immediately calls a meeting with the senior staff... Act Four In the briefing room, Janeway outlines her plan: an alliance with the Borg, against their enemy. They offer them a way to defeat their new enemy and in return, the Borg give them safe passage through their space. She references the Doctor's findings regarding the nanoprobes which she believes can be used as a biological weapon against Species 8472. The officers are incredulous at her suggestion of teaming up with such a despicable entity that has done so much harm and appears to be lacking a moral center of any kind. But she is adamant that this will work. She has the Doctor save all of the research regarding the nanoprobes in his holomatrix. She explains that if the Borg threaten Voyager in any way, they will simply erase the Doctor's program. She is, however, confident that it won't come to that as it is in the Collective's own interest to cooperate. She orders Paris to locate the nearest Borg vessel and set course. After everyone leaves, Chakotay, who's remained rather quiet all throughout the meeting, tells her that he believes that what she proposes is foolish and too great a risk. Using the parable of the scorpion he tries to explain to her that the mission she is proposing is a huge mistake and suicidal at best, as she is underestimating the true nature of the Borg. He explains that the Borg are what they are and that nothing - no amount of diplomacy, reasoning and incentive providing - will ever change that. The way he sees it, they have no guarantee that the Borg will actually keep their hands off them after they get the information. It could take months for Voyager to get across Borg territory. Long months where they would be facing thousands of systems, millions of vessels. How can they know that they would not be attacked and assimilated at every opportunity. He also asks her how much Voyager s safety is ultimately worth that she is willing to give advantage to a species guilty of murdering billions; they would essentially be giving the Borg the means to assimilate yet another species just to get themselves home. But Janeway is convinced that they will be able to keep the Borg at bay with the bargaining chip they have. She furthermore believes that helping to assimilate Species 8472 might actually not be such a bad idea given the malevolence they have expressed towards the entire solar system. Chakotay, however, remains steadfast in his objection to Janway's plan, accusing her of being so blinded by her desire to go home that she is closing herself to all other options. But Janeway asks him to trust her, firmly stating that the time for debate is over as she has made her decision. He promises her his obedience as her First Officer, but reiterates that this does not change his belief that she is making a fatal mistake. With tears in her eyes, Janeway realizes that she is alone after all. She dismisses him sadly but her resolve is unshaken. Voyager arrives at an assimilated system. Several Borg cubes are in the area. Janeway tells them that she has tactical information about Species 8472 and offers to negotiate for it. The Collective refuses. Janeway has Torres transmit to them a sample of the research, showing the 8472 cells being destroyed by the Borg nanoprobes. She tells them that this is a sample of the data and threatens to destroy it if the Collective does not listen to what she has to say. There is a long pause. She again offers to negotiate but as she speaks, she is transported to the cube. Onboard the cube she finds herself on a catwalk spanning the vast interior of the vessel. The Collective instructs her to state her demands. She states that there is only one demand: safe passage through Borg space in exchange for the data. She will give them the data once they are safely through and out the other side, untouched and unassimilated. The Collective finds this unacceptable as Borg space is vast and the data is needed now. She refuses, telling them that the data is their only guarantee against assimilation. The Collective will only get it once Voyager is safely beyond Borg space. Silence ensues as the Collective considers. It instructs her to state her proposal. Her idea is for them to work together as Voyager traverses Borg space to craft a bio-weapon using the data. She is in the middle of outlining this when the cube is violently shaken. On Voyager s bridge, Tuvok informs Chakotay that a quantum singularity has opened 20,000 kilometers away and that more of the ships are coming through behind this one. The cube's shields are weakening but not enough to beam Janeway back to Voyager. Nine of the bio-ships are seen. They converge in a star pattern, eight forming a ring around one central ship. They head toward the assimilated planet. The eight in the ring fire on the one in the center which collects the energy and channels it into one devastatingly powerful beam directed at the planet. The planet glows red, fireballs erupt on its surface and then it explodes, totally obliterated. All the Borg cubes in the vicinity are destroyed, except for the one holding Janeway and Voyager. The cube is seen hurtling away at high warp, just ahead of the explosion - Voyager still held firmly in its tractor beam... [[Scorpion, Part II|''TO BE CONTINUED...]] Memorable Quotes "''We are the Borg. Existence as you know it is over. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is fu..." : - Borg, before being destroyed by Species 8472 - First line of the episode. "In their collective state, the Borg are utterly without mercy, driven by one will alone: the will to conquer. They are beyond redemption, beyond reason." : - Captain Jean-Luc Picard, log entry read by Captain Janeway "There's a story I heard as a child, a parable, and I never forgot it. A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly, he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river. The fox said 'No, if I do that you'll sting me, and I'll drown.' The scorpion assured him, 'If I did that, we'd both drown.' So the fox thought about it, and finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim, but half way across the river the scorpion stung him. As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, 'Why did you do that? Now you'll drown too.' 'I couldn't help it,' said the scorpion, 'it's my nature'." : - Chakotay, to Janeway as he objects to her plan to ally with the Borg "There are times, Katharina, when I find myself transfixed by a shadow on the wall, or the splashing of water against a stone. I stare at it, the hours pass, the world around me drops away... Replaced by worlds being created and destroyed by my imagination." :- Leonardo da Vinci (holodeck) "Think good thoughts." : - Janeway, while Voyager is being scanned by the Borg. "There's a path before me... the only way home. And on either side, mortal enemies bent on destroying each other. If I attempt to pass through them... I'll be destroyed as well. But if I turn around... that would end all hope of ever getting home." : - Janeway, to Da Vinci on the Holodeck "What if I made an appeal... to the Devil?" : - Janeway, to Da Vinci hologram as she considers an alliance with the Borg "The weak will perish!" : - Species 8472, as stated by Kes from one of her telepathic encounters Background Information Title and Story Development * "Scorpion" takes its name from the parable Chakotay shares with Janeway after briefing the crew on her plan to form a temporary alliance with the Borg. The parable is most commonly known as , but Chakotay's version substitutes a fox for the frog. * The idea for "Scorpion" was a last-minute idea and the episode was written in a week. Originally, was planned to be the finale of Star Trek: Voyager s third season but, with the choice made to shake up the cast in Season 4, this episode was the result. (Delta Quadrant, p. 207) CGI Effects Director Ron Thornton commented, "From what I understand, the season finale of ''Voyager was initially going to be something else." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16) * ''Voyager co-creator and co-executive producer Jeri Taylor credited one of the episode's two writers, supervising producer Brannon Braga, with the idea for Species 8472. Taylor remarked, "Brannon is one of those ''incredibly creative people, whose got his synapses firing way out there, on the horizon .... And so that species was his idea." (''Braving the Unknown: Season Three, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) * Brannon Braga had last dealt with the Borg as a co-writer of . Even before it was firmly decided that the Borg would reappear in Voyager (as the series' team of writer-producers were considering if they should, following the defeat of the Borg and their queen in First Contact), Braga had come up with one of the story points of this episode. He noted, "I think it would be cool if the USS ''Voyager came upon a Borg graveyard, and basically, they're all dead. Obviously, somehow they'll come back to life. I just think it's a cool setting, and it's an interesting pay off to the movie." (Star Trek Monthly issue 24) Evidently, however, the cause of the destruction thereafter changed from being the Borg's defeat in ''First Contact to Species 8472. Although the idea of the Borg graveyard had unsuccessfully been considered for the earlier third season episode , the reason – according to Braga – that the idea was included in this episode was "not because we were dying to do a Borg graveyard." Braga further explained, "It's kind of an image that we had held over, but it fits into the events of the story perfectly." (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 17) * The holographic Leonardo da Vinci was added to the story at the request of Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew, who felt that it would give Janeway someone to confide in, other than her crew. Mulgrew noted, "It was my idea." (Star Trek Magazine issue 46, p. 26) Explaining how she came up with the concept, the actress stated, "I think that Janeway's one flaw as a scientist was an inability to exercise her imagination sometimes as an artist. So who would she then appeal to who could help her in both regards? Well, da Vinci, who was both a scientist and an artist. So, really she was going to him for lessons in philosophy – to teach her the heart of an artist while honing the brain of a scientist." (Star Trek: Voyager Companion) Mulgrew also said, "He was born out of Janeway's need to express. She's been in space for three years. That's a ''long time for a woman. Where does she go with feelings of loneliness, confusion, inaccessibility? She can be warm and she can be accessible to crew, but she can no more avail herself to them on an intimate level than Rick Berman can do with me. So what does she do and how does she sublimate those needs? She takes them to the great master of all time, who marries art to science, and that is Leonardo da Vinci." (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 4) Cast and Characters * Kate Mulgrew was delighted by how this episode initiates the bond between her character of Janeway and the holographic Leonardo da Vinci, the latter of whom was played by John Rhys-Davies. "''They begin an extraordinary relationship on the holodeck," Mulgrew enthused of the characters. (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 4) * Jeri Taylor was impressed by the acting, in this episode, of both Kate Mulgrew and Chakotay actor Robert Beltran. "Weren't they good?" Taylor rhetorically asked. "I felt that the actors more than rose to the occasion. They really liked the idea of that conflict Janeway and Chakotay and how it would test their friendship, and they really poured themselves into it." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 113) * Kim actor Garrett Wang liked how this episode introduced a new, villainous alien species. He admitted, "I like that episode because, all of a sudden, ''now you have an enemy which is even more... fearful than the Borg, an enemy that can single-handedly take out the Borg. 'Who could that be?!', you know? Up 'til that point, I mean, the Borg was the end-all, be-all of enemies, you know? Nobody could defeat–and then, now, you've got, 'Who are these guys?!', you know? .... So that episode, to me, was.... I loved it because it introduced, you know, a 'new villain.' The sci-fi fan in me really enjoyed working on that episode, for that." (''Braving the Unknown: Season Three, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) * Garrett Wang was less pleased, however, about having to play the out-of-action Kim. "I mean, I wasn't too happy that, most of the episode, I was on a bio-bed with green goop on my face," Wang remarked, before loudly echoing of the writers (wearing a big grin on his face), " Who else but Kim needs to be tortured in the bio-bed?', you know? No one else, just Kim." (Braving the Unknown: Season Three, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) * This episode marks the final appearance of Jennifer Lien (Kes) as a regular cast member. Production * Director David Livingston appreciated the fact that, for this episode, Species 8472 was scripted to appear for merely a few brief moments, giving only fleeting glimpses of the species. "It was kind of played a little bit like '' ," Livingston remarked, "''where you don't really get a ''huge look at it, which, to me, is always the best way to portray these things. If you look at them too long and too closely, they start to fall apart a bit." (''Braving the Unknown: Season Three, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) * According to the unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 188), the Borg costumes in this episode were reused from Star Trek: First Contact, as were "much of the Borg's furnishings." * After Garrett Wang portrayed a reaction to seeing the approach of the massed Borg cubes that fly by Voyager, his fellow actors jokingly mimicked him. Wang commented, "I notice onscreen on my sensors that all these Borg cubes are coming upon us, but they don't even stop for us .... And my lines are like, 'Captain, I'm reading one – no, three – no, five – no, seven Borg cubes.' And the way I said it, I said, 'Capt-taiiiin... " Wang laughed. He then continued, "I really extended out the 'Captain.' So from then on, Robert Beltran and [Duncan McNeill|[Robert Duncan McNeill]] would always go, 'Cap-taiiiin... " (Star Trek Monthly issue 106, p. 40) * Visual effects producer Dan Curry acted as second unit director on this installment. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) As such, he was involved in the directing of the scene wherein an away team from Voyager passes the pile of Borg corpses aboard a Borg cube. The heap of deceased drones was not an on-set element, however. Recalling the filming of the scene, Curry said, "The actors knew where to look, on stage, so they would walk around and say, 'Okay, it's up there. " (Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) * Visual effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore worked on the filming of the scene in which a member of Species 8472 bursts into a corridor, attacks Kim and then hurries away. CGI Effects Director Ron Thornton enthused of this scene, "Ron Moore and the live-action guys did such a great job of shooting the live action that it had a massive amount of drama–the wall suddenly blows out, so we could make the creature come in." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16) * Performing the scene wherein Janeway stands amidst one of the Borg cubes and speaks with the Borg Collective represented a challenge for Kate Mulgrew. "I was so terrified by the Borg the way we played it that I had to do several takes in the hive," the actress explained, to an audience at the Pasadena Grand Slam Convention on Friday . "My whole body was so chilled my hairs were standing up. They put you on the stage with just a blue screen behind you, and they say, 'This is the Borg hive. You are surrounded by them. You can go four inches this way. You can go two inches this way, and forward no more than an inch and a half, and meanwhile you play the three-page scene, and you are jeopardizing not only yourself, but the assimilation of your entire species. I tried to imagine what it would be like if I was in a very closed room, a contained space, with a serial murderer, only the serial murderer was everywhere, and I played the scene with so much quiet that I scared myself!" (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 4) This footage was filmed by Dan Curry's second unit team. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) Effects * Although visual effects supervisor Ron Moore usually used a mixture of effects methods, the visual effects of this episode were virtually all CGI. This method of effects was costly but a saving of finances enabled the profuse usage of CGI here; Jeri Taylor noted that, for this episode, the production crew of Star Trek: Voyager had "some extra money saved so we could go all out." (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, pp. 27 & 13) David Livingston appreciated the fact that this episode allowed for more digital effects than usual, particularly regarding the creation of Species 8472. "That was fun," he said, "because we got to deal with CGI figures. ''Star Trek, to me, had not always been on the cutting-edge of CGI technology. They continued to use real models and shoot motion-control shots, etcetera. And, when it got to 'Scorpion', there was no choice but to create a CGI model. We couldn't do something realistic live action. And the artists, the post-production people, created this rather terrifying creature that you see, sort of, at the end of 'Scorpion. " (''Braving the Unknown: Season Three, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) * The effects in this episode (in particular, the creation of Species 8472) were influenced by the success of effects in the earlier third season episode , particularly the computer-generated design of the macrovirus. (Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) * The script of this episode refers to Species 8472 as being at least ten feet tall and wearing an alien breathing apparatus aboard the Borg cube. Of the teleplay, Dan Curry noted, "We had a script for a very vicious alien creature that had to be so powerful and so fearsome that it was able to chop up and destroy the Borg." The aliens were then designed – for their debut appearance in this episode – by Curry, CGI animator John Teska and conceptual designer Steve Burg. (The Birth of Species 8472, VOY Season 4 DVD special features) * Meanwhile, Adam Lebowitz worked on the CGI Species 8472 bioships, the Borg cubes and Voyager. Ron Moore and coordinator Cheryl Gluckstern devised the two different forms of energy beam that the bioships' weapons fire: the style that is emitted from the single bioship that Voyager initially comes across, and the more concentrated blast that is fired by the formation of bioships. Recalling the creation of the latter style of blast, Moore said, "I wanted to do something that was a little bit different than ''Star Wars Death Star. I thought it was more interesting if they could share the strength of each and then create this monster beam." The beams were visualized by Greg Rainoff at Digital Magic, using Harry animation. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 95) * The teaser of this episode involved a lot of work for CGI supplier Foundation Imaging. Ron Thornton explained, "''We originally built the Borg Cube for an earlier episode '[[Unity (episode)|Unity]'], but we really had to trick it out for this one, because in the first few seconds, two Borg Cubes are blown up, so we had to create a lot of pieces for each explosion." Using a studio model and motion-control photography rather than CGI would have made the sequence somewhat easier and less time-consuming, as Foundation would not have had to deal with the pain-staking task of crafting the explosions. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16) * During the creation of the sequence wherein Voyager is passed by an armada of Borg cubes, the visual effects team were not entirely certain how big to make the effect. "Initially when we did that shot," Ron Moore recalled, "we thought it was a little bit over-the-top. The idea is that these Borg cubes are really, really big, and whatever drive they're using is throwing out some kind of electromagnetic field that's kicking the ''Voyager around. So we did a second softer version, and we looked at it and looked at it, and finally the decision was made to go back to the original. It's a lot more fun." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) Visualizing this sequence with such traditional effects methods as a model and motion-control photography would have been problematic. "''The mount would have given us a problem," Ron Moore explained. "We could have done a side mount, maybe, but it would have been a lot more subtle." In other words, what the effects team veered away from, when it came time to create the sequence. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, pp. 95-96) * The green-tinged polaron beam that is utilized by one of the Borg cubes to scan Voyager s bridge was actually rendered CGI by Digital Magic. Ron Moore said of this effect, "The thing that was important to me was that it would look like it was dimensional, when the light would hit the face, and then you'd see it in the background. We played with it in the edit bay. A lot of times with CGI this works out better, because there's a lot of freedom in the edit bay. Something like the scanning beam works until you make it too heavy, and you can't see through it. It's very subtle. With Paul Hill in the edit bay, we laid down one of the passes bright, another one with a little green in it, and we plugged in the flat fan-like surface as it went across." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) * The pile of dismembered Borg seen on the disabled cube was actually a 12-inch pile of Playmates Toys action figures. Dan Curry recalled, "We didn't have the budget or the time to create full-scale body chunks, because of the cost and time it would take to do that. So, I asked our licensing department for a bunch of Borg toy action figures .... And kudos to the person who sculpted those toys, because the detail – especially the facial detail – was so good that I was able to take the toy action figures, cut them up with a Dremel cutting tool, and then I stacked them up with hot glue and shot them at home against a little blue screen cove." To complete the scene in which the away team members from Voyager pass the pile of corpses, the live-action footage that Dan Curry had already shot of the actors was composited together with the Borg drone models. Curry remarked, "By compositing the stack of action figures, it looked very real. And the toy faces were sculpted so well that I was able to do close-ups on a tiny head, ... filling the TV screen with them, and they looked very good. Of course, it was in kind of a smoky environment, but um.... So, the toys served us well and saved the production company lots of money." (Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects, VOY Season 3 DVD special features) Ron Moore commented, "That was something we all knew immediately was perfect for Dan. Dan built that out of action figures, and he really had a lot of fun painting it, showing it to everybody. He'd come in and tell us, 'It's real disgusting now,' and he had a big smile on. It was great. We used it in a couple of shots, one with our crew, and one without." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) * For one particular scene, Industrial Light & Magic assisted with the inclusion of some Borg assimilation tubules. "ILM did one shot for us," Ron Moore clarified. "When you see the shot of the Borg trying to assimilate the alien ship, tubules come out of his fingers. Since ILM had done the tubules for the last feature, ''First Contact, producer Peter Lauritson set it up so that they would go ahead and give us those tubules again for the show. We added the electricity." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) * The look of the Species 8472 infection that can be seen on both the infected Borg corpse and Harry Kim, while he is also stricken with the condition, was created by Greg Rainoff using Harry animation. "''The idea was that they wanted to show that even though the Borg was dead, whatever these aliens had done to him was still at work," Ron Moore revealed. "Later when we see Kim in sickbay, it's the same thing. If you look closely, you'll see that these veins are growing bigger and leaning just a little bit. We wanted to tie those two effects together. Greg on the Harry actually painted them on. He would paint one vein a little longer, then do an effect to reveal it so it looked like it was growing." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) * To depict a red nebula near the Borg colony world that is destroyed by a formation of bioships in the episode's conclusion, an image of the Orion Nebula – captured by the – was modified and composited together with the effects footage. (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 29) * The interior Borg cube matte shot in the final scene of this episode used recycled footage from Star Trek: First Contact. Ron Moore remembered, "We picked some pieces out of the Borg collective that was used in the feature ''First Contact. We took certain frames and had them re-rendered, or re-shot by Illusion Arts so we'd have nice clean frames. All of them in the feature were moving, so they had a little bit of a motion blur to them. So we picked frames, had them give them to us clean without the blur, then Dan went in and painted the bridge." Subsequently, Janeway was super-imposed into the shot, using the second-unit footage that Dan Curry had taken of actress Kate Mulgrew. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) * Jeri Taylor and ''Voyager s other producers were extremely satisfied with the visual effects of this episode. Shortly after working on Voyager s third season, Jeri Taylor said of this installment, "That was one of our experiments with computer-generated graphics. We're more and more happy with the kinds of things we're able to get with CGI, and fortunately for a price we can afford." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 113) Taylor also said of the effects, "I thought our aliens in the season finale, 'Scorpion, Part I', were really cool." (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 12) The visual effects artists themselves were pleased with their work on this episode. Ron Moore noted, "We were very proud of it." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) Continuity and Trivia * This episode has one of the shortest teasers in Star Trek, at just under twenty seconds and with only a single (unfinished) line of dialogue spoken by the Borg. * This is the last of three episodes of Voyager s third season to feature the Borg; they previously appear both in the final scene of and more predominantly in the very next episode after that one, . As noted in the script of this episode, the Borg body parts here came from "the Borg corpse last seen in 'Unity,' which has been dissected." Another link between those two episodes is that Brannon Braga intended for the revelation, in this episode, that Species 8472 was overpowering the Borg to account for the condition of a disabled Borg cube that Voyager comes across in "Unity". (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 17) * This episode marks the third time in Star Trek that an end-of-season cliffhanger story revolved around the Borg, the previous occasions being and . Coincidentally, the former of those two episodes was at the end of TNG's third season, just as this episode is at the end of Voyager s third season. * In , that series' hero ship, the , comes across a fleet of destroyed and damaged Starfleet ships, having been decimated by the Borg (at the Battle of Wolf 359, which is referenced in this episode). Likewise, in this episode, the series' hero ship, Voyager, comes across a fleet of destroyed and damaged Borg ships, having been decimated by Species 8472. While the former scene is commonly referred to as the "graveyard scene," the script of this episode refers to the site of the latter scene as a "cemetery of decimated ships" and "a graveyard of debris". Furthermore, Brannon Braga has specifically referred, in conversation, to the site of destruction here as "a Borg graveyard". (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 17) * The assimilation tubules that appear in this episode previously appeared in Star Trek: First Contact. In fact, the script of this episode notes that the tubules were "seen in 'First Contact,' when the N.D. was stabbed in the neck". In an audio commentary for that film, recorded by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, Braga comments, "A lot of stuff we established in here involving tubules, and maybe even nanoprobes, we would go on to use a lot in ''Voyager because the Borg became a big part of that show." This episode was, however, the first episode to establish the concept of Borg nanoprobes, nanotechnology having been briefly referenced in the previous Borg-related episodes "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" (in particular, nanites) and (specifically, nano-cortical fibers). * This episode marks the beginning of the development of tension in the relationship between Janeway and Chakotay, which culminates in Chakotay considering mutiny in the season 6 premiere, . * After being introduced in this episode, Species 8472 would go on to appear twice in both Seasons 4 and 5. Their fourth season appearances are the concluding part of this episode's two-parter and , whereas their Season 5 appearances are and (in a holophoto) . * Similarly, the holographic Leonardo da Vinci, following his debut appearance here, would subsequently feature in the fourth season episodes , , and . * The robot that the holographic Leonardo is working on, in this episode, is based on a real work that Leonardo created. Although the final drawings of the robot are lost (if they ever existed), preliminary sketches have been input into computer simulations that confirm that the sketches were indeed meant to be of a mechanical man. While the sketches were known of, it was not until the 1950s that a professor from the University of California realized what they were meant to be. (For more information, please see at or Lodestar's Lair.) * Janeway points out to Leonardo: "''Someone once said... all invention is but an extension of the body of man...". This "someone" is , popular for his studies in media theory. One of his theses is that all media are just extensions of our Human bodies; for example, a radio is an extension of the ear and binoculars are an extension of our eyes. This theory directly relates to the character of the Borg. * A few words of Italian are spoken on the holodeck. The term ""Esatto" (meaning "exactly") is used twice: first by Leonardo da Vinci, upon confirming for Janeway that all he received in return for painting the Cardinal's nephew was the Cardinal's gratitude, and secondly by Janeway, when Leonardo responds to her suggestion of gliding like a hawk rather than flapping like a sparrow. In an example of , Leonardo swears, "Che catzo!" (literally translated as "What the dick!"), when his Arm of Hephaestus snaps a cog. The episode's script does not specify the translations of these terms, but does indicate to the reader that Leonardo's expletive is "cursing". * When Janeway references Captain Amasov in this episode, it is an in-joke reference to Isaac Asimov, famous 20th century science-fiction writer, cybernetics supporter, and friend of Gene Roddenberry. Reception * During her appearance at the 1997 Grand Slam Convention, Kate Mulgrew declared this episode would be "shocking, unpredictable, mesmerizing, and terrifying." (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 4) She also said of this installment, "It is going to be a marvelous episode." (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 16) * However, Kate Mulgrew was admittedly unsure, initially, how the two-part "Scorpion" storyline would be resolved. "Frankly, I don't know what's going to happen," she confessed, at the 1997 convention. "I don't know how they are going to rectify this cliffhanger. It's pretty scary." A particular aspect that Mulgrew was uncertain would return was the character of Leonardo da Vinci, though the actress hoped he would have "longevity and tenure on the series." (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 4) * Brannon Braga was ultimately very pleased with this episode. "I think it's just classic Star Trek," he enthused, shortly prior to the episode's initial airing. "It's a show with a lot of action, a great new alien race, and lots of Borg, but it's also got a real moral dilemma in it." Braga continued by wordily explaining that the dilemma he referred to was, specifically, the question of forming an alliance with the Borg, who he referred to as "the Devil," just as Janeway does in this episode. Braga concluded, "It's a very interesting show." (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 18) He also included this episode among a few examples of third season Voyager installments that he thought were good (the other episodes being and ). (Star Trek Monthly issue 29, p. 13) * Jeri Taylor was also highly satisfied with this episode, citing it as one of the highlights of Star Trek: Voyager s third season and referring to it as "simply smashing." (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 11) * One particular scene that was very popular among the producers was the one in which Janeway realizes Chakotay does not agree with her. "I think it's one of the best scenes we've ever had," Jeri Taylor raved. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 113) Brannon Braga similarly enthused that the same scene was "a great scene". (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 18) * So pleased was Ron Moore with this episode's effects that he gave some thought to nominating it for an Emmy Award. "This will be the one I'm putting up for Emmy consideration this year," Moore declared, as visual effects coordinator Mitch Suskin began to work on the effects of . (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) Ultimately, though, this episode neither was nominated for nor won such an award. * An accurate summary of this episode leaked onto the Internet, prior to the episode's broadcast. This did not, however, displease Brannon Braga, who merely expressed extreme gratitude that the episode had generated fan interest (even if obsessive) and implied that he thought such interest was harmless as "it's not like people are selling stuff." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, pp. 101 & 107) * This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 5.6 million homes, and an 8% share. http://voyagerview.com/review2.html At the time, this episode was estimated to have had 7.86 million viewers. It was number 62 of prime time television episodes in its week of first broadcast. Jeri Taylor said of the episode's high number of viewers, "It was very gratifying. I think that they were very comparable with our ratings for 'Future's End, Part II' which is the highest I think we had all year." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 107) Actually, together with the first part of the "Future's End" two-parter – namely, (which had an identical Nielsen rating to this installment but a slightly higher share percentage) – this episode was only the third most watched installment of Star Trek: Voyager s third season (on first airing), behind both "Future's End, Part II" and . (Contrary to Jeri Taylor's beliefs, the most watched episode of the season was "Basics, Part II", not "Future's End, Part II".) http://voyagerview.com/review2.html Taylor also said of this episode's ratings, "Our numbers at the end of the year and for the season finale exceeded our numbers last year, so there looks to be an upward kind of trend." (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 13) This is technically an accurate statement, as this installment's Nielsen rating was higher than that of the second season finale , although both episodes had the same share percentage. http://voyagerview.com/review2.html * Cinefantastique rated this episode 3 and a half out of 5 stars. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 113) * Star Trek Monthly scored this episode 4 out of 5 stars, defined as "Trill-powered viewing". (Star Trek Monthly issue 32, p. 93) * The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 190) gives this installment a rating of 10 out of 10. * The book Star Trek 101, by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block, lists this episode and the concluding part of its two-parter as being, together, one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: Voyager. * Following this episode's first airing, rumors circulated that not one but two main cast members of Voyager would be written out of the series at the start of the fourth season. The names that were bandied about were Garrett Wang and Kes actress Jennifer Lien. Indeed, Lien left the series in Season 4's second installment, . The fact that this third season cliffhanger ending concludes with Kim apparently near death made Garrett Wang seem even more doomed. He later admitted, "There was ''definitely concern on my part .... Had they decided not to bring Harry back, it would not have been the end of my world, just as Jennifer's leaving is not the end of her world .... Of course, nobody likes to be dropped from a show." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #17) * Garrett Wang was not entirely sure why the producers decided to keep Kim in the series, following this episode, but suspected that several factors were responsible. "''The rumor ''was that two people were going to get nixed. In terms of what happened during that span of time the start of the hiatus in spring 1997, when the rumor was in full swing, and the fall of that same year, when the concluding part of this episode's two-parter first aired, I'm not even going to ask," Wang said. "''Demographic-wise, Kim plays to an audience that other people don't play to. You're also getting into a little sticky area with the ethnic issue. On top of that, it was a coup that I got into ''People Magazine one of the world's 50 most beautiful people. I think Patrick Stewart was the only other person from the Star Trek world to get in. The timing of that, right during our hiatus, certainly couldn't have hurt me in terms of them keeping me on the show." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #17) Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.13, *In feature-length form, as part of the UK VHS collection ''Star Trek: Voyager - Movies: Volume 2 (with "Year of Hell"), catalog number VHR 5072, *As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection *As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg collection Links and references Starring *Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway Also starring *Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay *Roxann Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres *Jennifer Lien as Kes *Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris *Ethan Phillips as Neelix *Robert Picardo as The Doctor *Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok *Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim Guest star *John Rhys-Davies as Leonardo da Vinci Uncredited co-stars * Patrick Barnitt as a Borg Drone * Jeff Cadiente as a Borg drone * Sue Henley as Brooks * Tom Morga as a Borg drone * Louis Ortiz as Culhane * Chris Reed as a Borg Drone * John Tampoya as a Borg Drone Stunt double * Peter Lai as the stunt double for Garrett Wang References Achilles; Amasov; assimilation tubule; Battle of Wolf 359; bioship; Borg Collective; Borg cube; Breen; bronzetto; cardinal; electrodynamic fluid; ''Endeavour'', USS; ''Enterprise''-D, USS; fluidic space; goose grease; gravimetric distortions; Hickman; Hephaestus; Hercules; horse; Interdimensional rift; monk; nanoprobe; "Northwest Passage"; oak; Jean-Luc Picard; polaron beam; Q; Santa Croce; scudi; skeletal lock; Species 8472; Species 8472 bioship; starling; Tale of the Scorpion; telepathy; transwarp; Wolf 359 |next= }} cs:Scorpion (epizoda) de:Skorpion, Teil I es:Scorpion, Part I fr:Scorpion, Part I nl:Scorpion, Deel I Category:VOY episodes